Chase, Salmon P

Chase, Salmon P(ortland)

(born Jan. 13, 1808, Cornish Township, N.H., U.S.—died May 7, 1873, New York, N.Y.) U.S. antislavery leader and sixth chief justice of the U.S. (1864–73). He practiced law in Cincinnati from 1830, defending runaway slaves and white abolitionists. He led the Liberty Party in Ohio from 1841 and helped found the Free Soil Party (1848) and the Republican Party (1854). He served in the U.S. Senate (1849–55, 1860–61) and was the first Republican governor of Ohio (1855–59). He served as secretary of the treasury under Pres. Abraham Lincoln (1861–64). Appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Lincoln, he presided over the impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson and tried to protect the rights of blacks from infringement by state action.